Clarke's Third Law
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: The meaning of Clarke's Third Law had changed over time. Either way, having arguably broken the Prime Directive, Pike found himself thinking about it.


**Clarke's Third Law**

The subarians' level of technology was similar to that of mid-20th century Earth. The similarities extended further than that, ranging from their geo-political situation (three power blocs, all in possession of nuclear weapons), to their culture (news talk shows). Captain Christopher Pike of the USS _Enterprise _couldn't say he was that surprised about any of that – there were some constants in the galaxy that he encountered. The majority of alien species had a humanoid form for instance. The majority of species had encountered the nuclear threshold – a point in time where their species had the ability to destroy all life on their planet, including themselves. And in observing pre-warp civilizations, there was a constant in that there was rarely just one civilization to observe. "Infinite diversity in infinite combinations" was a mantra that applied not only to the Federation, but the universe itself, from the shape of galaxies, to the nations that formed on the homeworlds of sapient species.

But still, talk shows. One that he was watching on the bridge's viewscreen, and running it through the universal translator.

"This is insane," said one of the pundits – two of them, plus the anchor. "The idea that of this being alien life is nothing more than a fringe theory that the media…" He gestured at the anchor. "…is running with. It's an Osenian trick, nothing more."

"A trick that had a spacecraft in orbit?" asked the other pundit.

"For life's sake, no ship was in orbit." The subarian's ears covered his eyes – Pike took it as a gesture of frustration. "Has anyone actually seen this flying ship of yours?"

"We do have pictures," said the anchor. An image appeared on a screen behind them, showing a blurry image that Pike recognised as belonging to the _Enterprise_.

"That isn't a picture, it's a blob," said the first pundit. His elephantine-like ears were flapping back and forth. "And it's one that can easily be faked."

"You think Osenians want to fake a spaceship?"

"Osenians hate us and our way of life, of course they want to frighten us."

"Then why haven't they sent it to the Rax?"

"Who's to say they haven't? Rax hate us as much as the Osenians. I mean, there's even evidence that they're both conspiring to-"

Pike terminated the feed and sighed – it was hitting too close to home.

"Is it that distressing to you sir?"

He turned and couldn't help but smirk. "Never took you as being the sneaky type Mister Spock."

"I only just arrived on the bridge sir through the turbolift. I don't believe that counts as sneaking."

"So, you _didn't _time your arrival just right to catch me in my moment of distress?"

"No sir. But I do appreciate the serendipity of the event."

Pike smirked. "Think the universe wanted to make a point?"

"I don't believe the universe is making any point sir. The universe simply _is_." He walked over and gestured to the button in the command chair. "May I?"

Pike shrugged, allowing Spock to reactivate the viewscreen. The subarian pundits were in a shouting match (using words like "traitor" and "way of life" a lot), while the anchor was just leaning back in her chair, unable or unwilling to interject.

"It appears that we did rile up the locals."

"That we did Spock."

The vulcan muted the viewscreen and turned to Pike. "I understand that as science officer, my assessment of the matter only carries so much weight."

"Don't sell yourself short Spock."

"But I don't believe that you're in the wrong here."

"No?" Pike stuck his hands in his pockets and began pacing around the bridge. "Why's that?"

"You did not violate General Order One knowingly. You simply brought the _Enterprise _in to observe and document Subaria. Your only crime in this was underestimating the capabilities of their satellites."

"And?" Pike gestured back towards the screen, where the blob that was the _Enterprise _was showing. "What about the damage done?"

"That's assuming that there's damage at all sir."

"Pardon?"

Spock took a breath. "Captain Pike, I must admit that my knowledge of Earth's history cannot be considered as intimate as yours, but would I be fair in saying that Subaria's point in history could be considered analogous to the Cold War?"

Pike shrugged. "More or less."

"And am I also correct in saying that at around the same period, the phenomenon of unidentified flying objects made its way into the popular culture of the Western world?"

Pike stopped pacing. "What are you getting at Spock?"

"I'm saying that if we consider that Subaria is in a position similar to Earth was in the mid twentieth century, then logic would indicate that the subarians' sighting of their own flying saucer would be incorporated into their culture in a similar way."

"Or we've sparked the start of that culture."

"Potentially sir. But the Cold War of Earth did not begin or end on the presence of UFOs."

"And them? If they think it's an Osenian threat? Or from the Rax?"

"Then I'm certain that the Feranis Conglomerate will allow cooler heads to prevail and stay the course. All three power blocs on Subaria, regardless of their philosophy, have a vested interest in not turning their planet into irradiated dust. It would be illogical for them to initiate Armageddon."

"Not everyone is as logical as you Spock."

"No." For a moment, Pike saw the faintest hint of a smile in his science officer. "But I can hope."

"And hope is logical?"

"For one's wellbeing, yes. Especially for a human."

"Gee, thanks." He looked back at the viewscreen and folded his arms – the discussion which had turned into a debate, had no turned into a brawl, with one of the pundits accusing his counterpart of being "a dirty green."

"Makes you wonder," Pike murmured. "How far the course of history will take them."

"Sir?"

"Suppose they survive their cold war, as we did," Pike said. "What then?"

"I'm not sure I follow."

"What comes after the Cold War?" Pike asked. "Eugenics? A third world war?"

"I cannot say sir. No-one can. I can only extrapolate."

"And your extrapolation?"

"That it would be redundant to assume Subaria will follow Earth's history, as a cold war between three power blocs as opposed to two does carry connotations for the future that we can scarce predict."

"We have the histories of dozens of species at our fingertips Spock, I'm sure we can make quite a few predictions."

"Perhaps. But even if we did make them…" Spock trailed off and raised an eyebrow. "Sir, I must remind you that General Order One still stands."

"But we-"

"And a blurry image of the _Enterprise _is not sufficient to claim that the Prime Directive has been broken, so pay no heed to the consequences."

Pike sighed. "You're right, of course. But still…" He turned the screen off – what was replaced was a view of Subaria itself. More distant than it had been a few hours ago, when the _Enterprise _had been in one of the inner Lagrange points. "The UFOs of Earth. Far as we're aware, they were just fiction."

"Most likely sir. Certainly no species that we know of uses the flying saucer as a configuration for their own ship."

Pike coughed and gestured to the roof of the bridge.

"Apart from Starfleet. And even then, the saucer is but part of the ship, not the ship itself."

Pike grunted. "Funny, isn't it. We take inspiration from something that doesn't exist to build our own ships to be spotted on pre-warp worlds."

"I do not see the humour sir."

Pike sighed. "Keep working at it Mister Spock, you'll get there."

"I will…endeavour to get there." Spock gave him a nod. "Good evening sir."

"Evening Spock."

It was part of a moot point – in five minutes time, Gamma shift would begin, and Pike would retire for the evening. There should have been staff on the bridge 24/7, but he'd let them get off early. He wanted the time to himself. To think and reflect. To think about everything from nuclear thresholds, to UFOs, to the rumblings of war with the Klingon Empire way back home.

He also wanted to think about Clarke's Third Law – the idea that any sufficiently advanced alien species was indistinguishable from God. A deviation from what the law had originally stated, and a deviation he was beginning to doubt. Because if the Federation had the best technology in the galaxy, then what did it mean for them when they didn't have God's foresight? When they could just stumble into orbit of pre-warp worlds and nearly send them into oblivion? Was God's judgement so haphazard?

_I could end it, _he reflected. He glanced at the captain's chair, at the command interface that could launch death and destruction on Subaria if he so wished. _I could end your cold war, bring you to heel, and make you damn well civilized. _He glanced at the planet. _How'd you like that?_

Probably not much. Which was why he didn't do it. That, and because he wasn't God, he had no way of knowing how it would even turn out.

**Gamma shift beginning. All personnel report to assigned stations.**

With a sigh, he headed for the turbolift.

He needed some rest.


End file.
